A coating film forming apparatus that holds a substrate upon a spin chuck and forms a coating film by supplying a chemical liquid upon a top surface of said substrate comprises: an outer cup provided detachably to surround the spin chuck; an inner cup provided detachably to surround a region underneath the substrate held upon the chuck; a cleaning nozzle configured to supply a cleaning liquid for cleaning a peripheral edge part of the substrate, such that the cleaning liquid is supplied to a peripheral part of a bottom surface of the substrate; a cutout part for nozzle mounting, the cutout part being provided to the inner cup to engage with the cleaning nozzle; and a cleaning liquid supply tube connected to the cleaning nozzle, the cleaning nozzle being detachable to the cutout part in a state in which the cleaning liquid supply tube is connected.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A coating film forming apparatus that holds a substrate upon a spin chuck and forms a coating film by supplying a chemical liquid upon a top surface of said substrate, said coating film forming apparatus comprising: an outer cup provided detachably to surround said spin chuck; an inner cup provided detachably to surround a region underneath said substrate held upon said spin chuck; a cleaning nozzle configured to supply a cleaning liquid for cleaning a peripheral edge part of said substrate, such that said cleaning liquid is supplied from a supply aperture toward a peripheral part of a bottom surface of said substrate obliquely in an upward direction from an inner side region to said peripheral edge part of said bottom surface; a cutout part for nozzle mounting, said cutout part being cut out in a top part of said inner cup to extend from an inner surface to an outer surface of said inner cup to engage with said cleaning nozzle in a state such that said supply aperture is located at a side of said outer surface of said inner cup; and a cleaning liquid supply tube connected to said cleaning nozzle, said cleaning nozzle being detachable to said cutout part in a state in which said cleaning liquid supply tube is connected.
2. The coating film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said cleaning nozzle is formed to have a shape corresponding to a shape of an outer surface of said inner cup such that said cleaning nozzle constitutes a part of said inner cup when mounted upon said cutout part.
3. The coating film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein there is formed a projection piece for blocking of invasion of mist at the top edge of the inner cup so as to project outward and upward obliquely along a circumference of said inner cup, and wherein a part of said cleaning nozzle functions as a part of said projection piece.
4. The coating film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein a top part of said inner cup is formed to have a shape of a mound in an elevational cross-sectional diagram and said projection piece is formed to extend outward from an apex of said mound-shape part, said cleaning nozzle having an upward inclined oblique surface part and a downward inclined oblique surface part and wherein said cleaning liquid is ejected from a part between upward inclined oblique surface part and said downward inclined oblique surface part.
5. The coating film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 4 , further comprising a moving mechanism for moving said cleaning nozzle between a mounting position in which said cleaning nozzle is mounted upon said cutout part and a retracted position in which said cleaning nozzle is dismounted from said cutout part and is retracted inside of an inner edge of said inner cup.
6. The coating film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein said moving mechanism retracts said cleaning nozzle by at least one of a rotational operation and a slide operation.
7. The coating film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , further comprising a moving mechanism for moving said cleaning nozzle between a mounting position in which said cleaning nozzle is mounted upon said cutout part and a retracted position in which said cleaning nozzle is dismounted from said cutout part and is retracted inside of an inner edge of said inner cup.
8. The coating film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said moving mechanism retracts said cleaning nozzle by at least one of a rotational operation and a slide operation.
9. The coating film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , further comprising a moving mechanism for moving said cleaning nozzle between a mounting position in which said cleaning nozzle is mounted upon said cutout part and a retracted position in which said cleaning nozzle is dismounted from said cutout part and is retracted inside of an inner edge of said inner cup.
10. The coating film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 9 , wherein said moving mechanism retracts said cleaning nozzle by at least one of a rotational operation and a slide operation.
11. The coating film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a moving mechanism for moving said cleaning nozzle between a mounting position in which said cleaning nozzle is mounted upon said cutout part and a retracted position in which said cleaning nozzle is dismounted from said cutout part and is retracted inside of an inner edge of said inner cup.
12. The coating film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein said moving mechanism retracts said cleaning nozzle by at least one of a rotational operation and a slide operation.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
April 21, 2008
May 29, 2012
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